Despite the fact that the government requires existing telecommunication service companies to allow competitors to access their facilities and databases to the extent necessary to provide competitive services, obtaining quick and reliable access to the information contained in these databases has been difficult, if not impossible. For example, competitive local exchange carriers (“CLEC”) have not had an easy-to-use, near real-time or real-time system that can access an incumbent local exchange carrier's (“ILEC”) database to determine whether a phone number will accept a collect call.
Similarly, the increased use of the Internet for purchasing goods and services has increased the pressure to validate and check pending transactions before they are completed. For example, an Internet retailer would like to determine whether a potential customer's credit card or banking card is valid and whether the account has the credit or funds to pay for the proposed transaction.
In each of the cases described above, a database query will most likely have to cross network boundaries, some of which may use proprietary or legacy protocols. As a result, the processing of these queries is difficult, slow and cumbersome. In addition, gateways located at these boundaries between different networks that use different protocols have traditionally used custom equipment that is both expensive and difficult to integrate into an existing system. For example, Internet Protocol Signal Transfer Point (“IP-STP”) communications capabilities in the telecommunications industry have been only possible via fixed traditional communication links commonly referred to as 56K links, A-Links, D-Links or the like. Accordingly, there is a need for a system and method for providing connectivity between two different networks using different protocols that is inexpensive, efficient and easy to install.